


A Blue Rose

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Case Fic, Chess, Flashbacks, Flowers, Gen, Historical, Nature, Roses, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-02
Updated: 2013-07-02
Packaged: 2017-12-17 13:38:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/868174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>H.G. and Wooly are sent after an Artifact</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Blue Rose

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hhertzof](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/gifts).



> Thanks to my beta!

"Well, I'm here," H.G. said, pulling off her coat and dropping it onto her usual chair. "Bishop to A6."

"What is the Artifact, Sir?" Wooly asked, removing his own coat.

"From the reports, it appears to be a blue rose." Caturanga replied. "G7 to A7. Check."

 _"I picked you a rose, Mummy!"_ H.G. shoved the memory aside, but her hand still stole to her locket as she sank into her chair.

"But roses aren't blue; it's not a natural color," Wooly protested.

"Oh, Wooly!" H.G. sighed. "As long as you've been here, I would think you have learned not to assume as to the naturalness or unnaturalness of anything. Knight to F4."

"Well, that is to say-"

"This rose is from the gardens of Babylon," Caturanga interrupted before William could fumble his way deeper. "It was said to belong Anasis, the Queen of Babylon. D2 to F4"

"Uh, Anasis, the lover of Alexander?" Wooly asked.

H.G. smirked. "Yes, he said that the beauty of the gardens was second only to the beauty of the lady herself. Rook to D8. What does this rose do?"

Caturanga pulled a file off the table beside him and opened it. "We do not know, but Warehouse 2 identified it as an artifact. There were rumors that if one became an enemy of the queen, one would then be forced to serve in her garden forever. F4 to C3. The agents then could not verify the stories, but they believed that the rose was involved."

"And now?" H.G. asked, studying the board.

"Three gardeners have now disappeared from our Queen's service," Caturanga said, handing the file to her. Please look into it."

"Very well." H.G. rose and straitened her vest. "And Rook to C8. Check."

"Very good!" Caturanga declared as she walked out.

"Come along, Wooly!" H.G. called over her shoulder. The check was temporary, staving off the inevitable, but perhaps this rose would be a fascinating consolation.

\---\\----(@ * @)----/---

"So, what do we know?" Wooly asked, looking around the deserted corner of the royal gardens.

"These trees are new additions," H.G. said, circling them. "According to the head gardener, they were not here last week. However, the ground around them is undisturbed, with grass growing right up to the root, which would usually indicate that they have been in place for several months to a year. Also, the trees have several years of good growth to them, and are tall enough to require extensive supportive roots. One would not expect a tree that was in a pot last week to have such girth or extensive roots."

"Well that's a bit odd," Wooly said.

"Odd is not the word for it, Mr. Wolcott." H.G. pulled out her case and used her knife to scrape a small amount of bark from the nearest tree into a test tube. "This could indicate some kind of physical time travel, aging the trees and grass around them. Or perhaps memory alteration, causing the head gardener to forget their existence."

He frowned. "Okay, so they could be related to an Artifact, but why would someone use an artifact just to plant a couple of trees?"

"People use Artifacts for all sorts of things," H.G. replied crisply. She opened another test tube to take a second sample, but her knife hand froze a few inches away from the tree. "Wooly, what are trees generally made of?"

"Uh, wood?"

"Sap."

"I see. And what does this have to do with-"

H.G. scooped a little of the red sap onto her knife and held it up to him. "Well, have you ever heard of a tree that bleeds?"

"What?" Wooly quickly bent over to inspect the fluid on her knife.

"I'd hazard I know what happened to our missing gardeners," H.G. said, thinking quickly. "Caturanga did say three disappearances, did he not?"

"Uh, yes?"

H.G. pointed to the last tree in the stand. "Then what is that fourth anomalous tree?"

Wooly quietly counted under his breath. "You're right; there are four. Hey, and this one has little blue flowers around the base!"

_A glimpse of small blue wildflowers._

_"I picked you a rose, Mummy!"_

H.G. took a deep breath to steady herself, her free hand encircling the locket. "Those are an anomaly. Well done Mr. Wolcott." A sudden thought occurred to her and H.G. knelt down and scooped up a small rock. Gently tossing it at the last tree, she smiled when it passed right through the trunk and instantly made a small 'thunk.'

"That's impossible!" Wooly declared.

"Please, Mr. Wolcott," H.G. scoffed. "One would think you had never seen an illusion before."

"It sounded metal!" he replied.

"Yes, perhaps a fountain or statue," she mused. "You go and speak to the head gardener again. See if he has installed anything new in this area recently. I'll work on dispelling the illusion."

"Yes Miss Wells," Wooly replied, hurrying off.

H.G. knelt and pulled out her kit, searching through the minerals and chemicals she kept. Perhaps mica, for reflecting light. And maybe quartz, for clarity. As she tried to close her case, the quartz crystal slipped between her fingers and landed among the small flowers at the base of the tree. As she reached for it, memories again assaulted her.

_"I picked you a rose, Mummy!" Christina declared, tugging on Helena's skirt._

_Helena turned, and saw a small grubby hand waving under her nose. In it, Christina gripped a small, blue-flowered weed, with a large clod of dirt still hanging from the roots. "Why thank you, dear!" Helena said, accepting the gift._

_"Smell it!"_

_Laughing, Helena complied. "Oh, and it smells wonderful!"_

_"Uncle Charles said roses are for the person you love," Christina informed her._

_Helena smiled. She was quite sure that it was not Christina whom Charles had spouted that drivel, but one of his female devotes. She also chose to ignore the fact that this flower was in no way a rose; it was the thought that mattered. "Well this must mean that you love me very much!" she said, pulling Christina in for a quick hug._

"You're right!" Wooly's voice broke through her memories and pulled H.G. back into the present.

"What?"

"I mean, of course you were right," Wooly amended. "They put a fountain here, just last week. He said the center piece was a floral bouquet."

"Prominently featuring a lovely blue rose?" H.G. asked, smirking.

"Uh, yes."

"Good!" H.G. poured the mica flakes onto the quartz and then gently tossed it at the tree trunk. As it passed through the illusion, the tree's form flickered and then faded away. It was, as described, a small fountain, with water shooting out of a beautiful, full, blue rose on the top. Wooly reached towards it, but H.G. grabbed his wrist. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"Why?"

"Well, I hate to speculate, but I suspect that that water will turn you into a tree, just as it did our three unfortunate gardeners." Wooly immediately jerked his hand back.

"Oh I see."

H.G. eyed the fountain. "Stay here and guard it. Call Caturanga on the Farnsworth and tell him that we need a pick up crew. It's too big to bag, and likely extremely heavy - that base appears to be pure marble. You'll need at least four men to crate it. And be sure to collect my crystal once you no longer need the illusion dispelled; I'll want it back."

"And what will you be doing?" Wooly asked, only a little put out.

H.G. quickly plucked one of the small blue flowers from the fountain's base and then rose. "I'm off to pick some roses."


End file.
